JESUS <3

[Spooky]

I have another question, since it seems the majority of you don't think Jesus was any type of real person, does it bother you that much of the world uses His (supposed) birth to tell time?

I'm talking about the fact that we're in the year 2015... and anything before that is referred to as Before Christ? (BC)

A little, yeah.

[Wyrd of Gawd]

Thanks for the answers, everyone.

I am curious about something. Do yall have any theories as to who actually began spreading the Christian faith, if not Jesus? And do you believe this happened 2000 years ago?

Basic Christian beliefs have their primary roots in Zoroastrianism, with dollops from Judaism and Hinduism and several other ancient religions.  It's primarily a derivative of Zoroastrianism.

[Catholic_Lady]

Ah I see. Never seen it before.

This next question is going to sound like I'm trying to convince you of something, but I promise I am not lol: How do you feel about a new religion spreading so quickly that it actually created a "turning point" in History? So much so that we use it to tell time? Do you think that's odd, or perfectly reasonable?

How do you feel about the spread of Islam?  It was a turning point in history and spread even faster than Christianity?

Seriously, take a look at this video and ask yourself if spreading quickly isn't a fairly common thing?  Notice also where Christianity spread, because Jerusalem is not the epicenter one one expect if that's where people really witnessed a resurrection.

http://www.businessinsider.com/map-shows...uffer?r=UK

Please don't get defensive.
You're acting as though the questions I asked you were rhetorical, but they really weren't. Like I said, I'm not trying to convince you, and neither do I think that fact alone is enough to convince anyone. So, are you able to answer? I'd rather have a discussion than watch a video.

(And as a side note, the significant detail of the question I asked you was: "so much of a turning point that it determines how we tell time"... the same cannot be said about Islam.)

[Catholic_Lady]

I have another question, since it seems the majority of you don't think Jesus was any type of real person, does it bother you that much of the world uses His (supposed) birth to tell time?

I'm talking about the fact that we're in the year 2015... and anything before that is referred to as Before Christ? (BC)

Not at all.

The current calendar was not immediately adopted by the western world as many believe.

England and the US did not even adopt it until 1752. Sweden in 1753.  

Most of the rest of Europe adopted it in the 16th century.

Most Protestant countries believed it was a Catholic conspiracy. 


Does it bother you that some of the months of the year are named after Roman gods? 

March = Mars
May = Maia
June = Juno
January = Janus

Or that the days of the week are named after the Norse gods? 

Thursday = Thor
Wednesday = Wotan
Friday = Freria
Saturday = Saturn

Good points, thank you.

[rexbeccarox]

You asked if the term "BC" bothered atheists. Do the days of the week bother you, C_L? Simon asked a good question, mirroring the one you asked. Can you please answer?

[Anomalocaris]

Thanks for the answers, everyone.

I am curious about something. Do yall have any theories as to who actually began spreading the Christian faith, if not Jesus? And do you believe this happened 2000 years ago?

Basic Christian beliefs have their primary roots in Zoroastrianism, with dollops from Judaism and Hinduism and several other ancient religions.  It's primarily a derivative of Zoroastrianism.

What happened was in a polyglot society of low education, high wish thinking, and many, many cults offering different expedient but imaginary ways out of the disappointments of the real world, those cults which were able to be the most unscrupulous in offering the most extravagant promises to the gullible, and were the most ruthless in taking things that worked for other cults and making them serve its own aggrandizement,  would likely get the furthest.   Eventually there would be but a few.  Then for both luck and ruthlessness, only one would remain standing.   Then that cult would be free to claim to be the source all things good and wonderful,  and burn all those who begs to disagree.   When that has happened, Christianity as we know it, was born.

Islam followed much the same path, but did it much more quickly.   Subsequently Islam had the bad luck of running into the Mongols.  Otherwise I suspect Christianity would be but a minor harassed sect within a Islamic world today.

[Silver]

You asked if the term "BC" bothered atheists. Do the days of the week bother you, C_L? Simon asked a good question, mirroring the one you asked. Can you please answer?

I love it, since the days of the week are mirrored after pagan gods.

[ignoramus]

Religions love symbolism.
It's for the masses to connect easily.

I like many here have no preoccupation with certain "words" as they are more traditional than anything else.
Only a paranoid (like me) would read further symbolism into them.

I've got whole conspiracy vids on religious symbolism and their origins.
None of them are favourable towards religion.

Can anybody tell me what the eg, "alfa romeo" symbol represents?

[Catholic_Lady]

Cath, are you implying that something divine forced man to reset the year/time?
I don't think you mean that.
This was settled and accomplished after the fact...by humans...

LOL, no that is not what I was implying. 

I was actually not implying anything, just asking a question.

[Ravenshire]

Worrrrrrd to the heathens!!  

So, do you think Jesus was a real person? I'm not asking if you think Jesus was divine, or if He performed miracles, or if He was crucified, died, and came back.

I'm simply asking if you think there was a man 2000ish years ago named Jesus who brought forth these new "ideas" that we now call Christianity.

I think it's absolutely irrelevant if there was some "new age thinker" wandering about the middle east 2000 years ago. Without the miracles, the whole house of cards comes tumbling down.